Once Upon a Time on Mars, Chapter 7 Updated
by Tom Ladd
Summary: Sasha and the crew enter Eleusis. Foma meets an old friend. Lavrov learns more troubling news about Gureshev.
1. Chapter 1

**Baikonur Cosmodrome**

**Kazakhstan**

Sasha and the crew pulled up to the gantry in the van. After shaking hands and embracing the driver, they walked to the gantry.

Sergei was first into the elevator, followed by Sasha and the rest. Sergei put his hand on a steel lever mounted on a panel. Tania closed the cage door behind them, and Sergei pushed the lever upward. The elevator began ascending very slowly.

"Here is another wonder of Soviet technology," said Sergei. "We will travel 400,000 miles through the vacuum of space, but we will ascend the first 100 feet using a steel and rubber cage based on a one-hundred year-old design."

"Surely you don't mean it's 100 years old?" asked Yuri.

"I assume the elevator itself is not," said Sergei, "but the technology is identical to its nineteenth century counterpart: a cage attached to cables, turning on a motor, exerting force to transport cargo and passengers up and away from the earth's center of gravity. I say, the elevator isn't one hundred years old, though who knows? Soviet engineers are known for their clever recycling of parts. Maybe some of them are made from melted pre-Revolutionary Russian metal."

Yuri and Katya looked at the steel lever, as though observing every detail.

As they reached the top of the gantry, Sergei slowly pulled the steel lever back to its original position, and the cage slowed down. Finally it stopped, Tanya opened the cage for them and they all filed out.

Sasha stopped at a steel box mounted on the gantry near where it joined with the hatch of the _Eleusis Buran._ He opened the box , inside of which there was a telephone. He picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Control," he said cheerfully. He looked out across the airfield at the Command and Control building where the launch was coordinated. He waved. "Any special requests today?"

He listened to the answer.

"Very well, thank you," he said and hung up. "During the pre-launch check all systems are confirmed operational. We are at Launch minus 7 hours." They began the walk to the hatch. Sasha arrived first, and entered. He began strapping himself to the pilot's seat. Sergei would fasten the straps on his side which he could not reach. and the others would do the same for each other.

As the rest of the crew followed him inside, he said, "This is your Captain speaking. Welcome aboard _Eleusis _Flight One to the heavens. No alcohol will be served for the duration, but the food is complimentary."

The cosmonauts laughed.

Tanya closed the hatch behind them. Outside, a technician sealed it against space.

**Los Angeles**

**MidTown**

Foma walked down Pico toward MacArthur Park. It was a little past noon. Alicia lived on the corner of South Lafayette Park Place and West Sixth, about five blocks west of the park.

He turned right when he got to the park. Vendors sold hot dogs and ice cream from carts. Across the street children played in the grass on the park's edges.

He walked into a grocery store. He went to the counter and watched the clerk turn the page of his sports magazine.

"Hola, Pelon, que tal?" Foma said.

Pelon looked up and grinned. "Foma, man, how you doing? You back with Alicia? Don't leave her again!"

"No, I'm just here on a visit."

Pelon nodded. "Nothing's changed much. City Hall is still run by liars and crooks. And you still better watch out for the Man, cause he's probably wearing a gun, and maybe a badge if he decided to put it on today."

Foma laughed. "You used to say if people would just shut up and do like you did and run your damn store, nobody'd ever have any problems with the Man, or the courts, or anything like that. That still true?"

"You know, Foma, it's truer than I thought. I'm clean and straight as an arrow. And the Law generally leaves me alone. Of course, if somebody gets strongarmed around here or someone steals a purse, the police will come in and ask me if I've seen the guys who did it. But they won't sweat me about it."

"Who could ask for anything more?'

"Damn straight, Foma. This way I'm free to do my thing. And I don't want it any other way."

Pelon folded his magazine on the counter. Now he wore a serious look.

"Is there anything you need?" he asked. "Anything I can do for you?"

Foma lowered his voice. "You know Alicia took up with that Rick guy, right?"

Pelon looked like he swallowed something sour. "Yeah. Guy's a creep. He'll gamble the rent money away if you're not watching him all the time."

"Did you see him around here in the last month or so?"

Pelon shook his head. "No, man. I didn't see him at all."

Pelon paused. "Now, if you went back 2 or 3 months ago, then yeah, he came in here once."

"What did he want?"

"He just picked up a six-pack. He was with some dude I'd never seen before. He had the craziest blonde hair I've ever seen, all in his eyes and reaching down his back, you know? Like a rock star. He was around 35. He looked pretty well set, like he had money. I wondered what he was doing around a bum like Rick. Come to think of it, I don't understand what _anyone _would be doing around a bum like Rick. So what was Alicia thinking about?"

Foma smiled and shrugged. "You'd have to ask her."

Pelon laughed. "No, thanks. I wouldn't bug her about anything, for anything, anytime, ever. She's one of those people that you always want to stay on their good side, you know?"

Foma nodded. "Yeah, I know. I wouldn't bug her about anything either. At least, not on purpose."

Pelon looked at him. "Come on, man. You know that's not true."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you walked out on her. And Svyeta. And it's not like you did that by accident. You knew that wouldn't just bug her, but she'd be completely upset. So you hurt her on purpose."

"I didn't mean to do that."

"But you did do it."

"It's what happened when I did what I had to do."

"Yeah, you did that and when you did it you hurt her. End of story."

"I never wanted to hurt her."

"But you promised you wouldn't hurt her, and then you went and did."

They were silent.

Foma said, "I've gotta get going. Do you still have the same number?"

"Yeah," said Pelon.

"You don't mind if I call you?"

Pelon shook his head. "No way, man. If you need me I'm right here, like always." He stuck out his right fist. "Friends," he said.

Foma raised his own fist and met Pelon's with it. "Friends," he said. He turned to go. "I'll see you when I see you."

"'Later."

Foma left the store, turned right and kept walking.

**December, 1989**

**New York City**

**Consulate of the USSR**

Lavrov read the latest intelligence about Gureshev and said to the Vice-Counsul, "Comrade Vice-Consul, what the hell? Why don't we just...?"

"Why don't we just shoot him?" demanded Shirapov. "Is that it? Isn't that what you mean to ask, Comrade Lavrov?"

Lavrov said nothing, because it was indeed what he meant to ask, but he felt it was clear he had made some error, and he sincerely did not want to repeat it.

"Because," continued Comrade Vice-Consul Shirapov, "as much as some of us might regret it, we no longer live in Stalin's time, that's why! Because Krushchev wanted to make Soviet successes more palatable to the West by saying, 'Oh look, we no longer shoot enemy spies and traitors now. These days we just give them a Western-looking trial and look! We might not even execute them! They might even get to walk away free as a bird!'"

"That's one reason. The other reason is that Gureshev is not acting alone. There is still too much about his network that we do not know, which may lead to very high levels indeed. Were we to move against Gureshev too soon, we might lose much more than we gain, meaning, we might lose a lot of good people ourselves, in exchange for nothing more than the empty reward of a secondary player like Gureshev."

"Of course, Comrade Vice-Consul. But I can't help feeling very uncomfortable about dealing with him."

"Quite so, Comrade Lavrov. But I ask, for the good of the Soviet people, that you bury your feelings about this until your mission is completed. Gureshev will not escape, but neither must his benefactors and allies.

"And that, as you must realize, is the essence of your mission, and why you must continue in your surveillance of Gureshev."

"Yes, Comrade Vice-Consul."

"Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, Comrade Vice-Consul."

"Do you have any more questions for me?"

"No, Comrade Vice-Consul."

"Then this discussion is concluded."

Shirapov smiled at Lavrov. "Death to spies," he said.

Lavrov said instantly, "Death to spies."

And Comrade Lavrov left the office.

_To Be Continued._


	2. Chapter 8

_Once Upon a Time on Mars,_ Chapter 8

Edits and Updates:

- In Chapter 7, Soviet Vice-Consul Shilyapin and Colonel Lavrov do not say "Death to Spies," but rather, "Death to Traitors!"

- Throughout the story, the unpopular Air Force Major whom Sasha and Sergei dislike, who accosts them in the cafeteria to insult the _Buran _program, and whom Lavrov is ordered to investigate, is actually named Major Svinyi, not "Gureshev."

**Los Angeles 1986**

Foma walked the few blocks from Macarthur Park, then up a short path to a yellow house, and knocked on the door.

The door opened slightly, held by a small chain. A woman inside looked at Foma.

"Hi," he said. "It's me."

The woman undid the chain and opened the door. "Well, hi, Fomka, how've you been?"

He entered the house and they embraced.

"Alicia, I'm fine, what's going on?" asked Foma.

"Rick took Svyeta and hasn't called. Her school says she hasn't been there since I called you. So I don't know what's going on now."

"Where do you think he went?"

"He's got a sister who lives in Torrance. But she hangs up on me when I call."

"What's her name?"

"Augusta something."

"Do you know her address?"

"No. But Rick does."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Find Svyeta and bring her back to me."

"Okay."

"And take this," Alicia said, handing him a paper bag.

"What is it?"

"Your lunch. Tacos and some other stuff. You can eat it in the car."

He took the bag. "Thanks."

"Sure."

"I'll call you when I find out anything," he said.

"Okay."

"See you later," he said.

"Okay," said Alicia. He left and she closed the door.

**Baikonur Cosmodrome 1991**

"Continuing pre-launch check," said Tanya.

Sasha said, "I did'nt see Comrade Major Svinyi anywhere today, not in the control room, nor at any point between control and the space dock. He appeared to be absent."

"I hadn't noticed," said Sergei, who had probably quite happily noticed.

Sasha called over the intercom. Control, where's Comrade Major Svinyi? Hasn't he assumed the duties of assistant director today?" asked Sasha.

"He's indisposed," came the reply.

Sergei looked at Sasha. It was clear he had to try hard not to laugh.

"Where is he? Is he sick?" asked Sergei.

"He's presently unavailable," said control.

Sergei broke out laughing, and Sasha patiently formed his answer.

"Control," said Sasha, "Comrade Svinyi is expected to direct the pre-launch of the Soviet shuttle _ Buran _with us, and to help launch us into space in a matter of hours. Should someone remind him of this? Where is he?"

"He can't talk to us right now."

Sergei and the other cosmonauts roared with laughter at this.

"He's drunk, isn't he?" howled Sergei with glee. "He's passed out over a bottle of vodka somewhere and can't be bothered to help launch our bright, shiny new Soviet Space Shuttle...!"

"Please, Comrade Control," said Sasha, "just tell us, where is Comrade Svinyi?"

There was a pause before control answered. "He's under arrest. "

The cosmonauts did not respond for a moment. Svinyi was unpopular, but he was also an officer in the Soviet Air Force. Such people were not arrested every day. At least, not nowadays.

Sergei said, "That guy. What's he done now?"

"I'm not sure, comrade," answered Control, "but the arresting officers were very clear it involved certain charges like crimes against the people, assault, and corruption."

"Well, to blazes with him then," said Sergei. "I always knew he was bad news. More oxygen for the rest of us."

"But Comrade Svinyi is a decorated pilot!" said Pyotr. "Isn't this some kind of an outrage? Some kind of politically motivated attack?"

"If you want to talk politics, let's talk politics," said Sergei. "But Svinyi's never done anything but insult the government. He always rode on his laurels, but never had a good word for anyone else. I don't trust him far enough to open a can of sardines, let alone launch the first Soviet Shuttle into space. He's the last person who should talk about politics, because he's never cared about anything but himself."

"We can talk about it later when we're in orbit," said Sasha. "This is all just so much fishwrap until we're safely up. We'll divide up the comrade's responsibilities among ourselves."

"It's launch minus two hours," said Control.

"Thank you, Control, very good" said Sasha.

"Continuing pre-launch check," said Tanya.

**Los Angeles 1986**

Foma dialed the phone.

"Hello?" answered a voice.

"Hi, this is Foma Vladimirovich, I'm Svyeta's father. Please let me speak to her."

"She's...she's...are you sure you're her father? I thought you were stuck somewhere out in Texas or someplace."

"Yes, I'm sure, now please let me talk to her."

"I can't, she's not here."

"Where is she? When will she be back?"

"She's at church school. I've been sending her there to get away from that crazy mother of hers."

"Well, we want her back, so tell me where you are and I'll come get her."

"Are you sure that's wise? Her mother's crazy. You know she's a Messican, and when those people..."

"Yes, I'm sure! Now tell me where I can pick up my kid!"

"We're in Torrance, at the southeast corner of Del Amo and Madrona."

"What's the address?"

"You'll know it when you get here. There's nothing else around here."

"Just have Svyeta wait there for me when she gets back," said Foma. "That's my daughter Svyeta Fomichna _Guadalupe _you have there, by the way, named after her grandmother, who was Mexican-American and proud of it. So you should probably shut the fug up about crazy Messicans and their mothers."

Foma hung up the phone.

**New York 1986**

Lavrov, charged by the Vice-Consul with investigating Svinyi, picked up his quarry in Central Park, when Svinyi left the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lavrov followed him along Fifth Avenue on foot for a few blocks until they reached Ninetieth avenue. Then Svinyi entered a restaurant. A minute later, Lavrov followed him in.

There were a few empty tables left inside, but it was close to noon and people were arriving for lunch. Svinyi sat down with two other men.

Lavrov spoke to a woman at Reception and persuaded her to get him at a small table near Svinyi's. He sat with his back to the men. They were reflected in a large mirror facing Lavrov; not enough for him to read their lips but he could see them stand up or sit down, or exchange items across the table.

Svinyi and the men began talking, and ordered more than one round of drinks. Svinyi spoke louder than the others, but Lavrov could hear them speak plainly enough.

"Did you bring it?" Asked Svinyi.

"Yes," answered one of the men, a shorter one with black hair.

"Let me see it," said Svinyi. They handed him a briefcase.

Svinyi rummaged through the case. It looked like he was counting something. In a couple of minutes he closed the briefcase and placed it on the chair beside him. He then slid a manila folder across the table to his companions.

Then he asked them, "Did you meet your Russian girls?".

"Yeah," said the short one. "Thanks for telling us about them. They're a lot of fun. Or at least, we think so. They don't talk much, because they haven't exactly woken up yet since last night."

"Lots of beer," said the short one's companion. "Lots of beer, and whiskey, and stuff."

"I'm sure," said Svinyi. "You should drop them back off at their school before people start asking questions. I hate questions," he said.

"But we just got them yesterday," said the short one.

"Personally, I don't care what you do," said Svinyi, "but if you want to keep doing business with me, you need to get rid of them before questions are raised."

"Yeah, sure, we'll drop them off today," said the other one. "When do you want to meet again?"

"I'll let you know," said Svinyi. He stood and left without saying anything else.

Lavrov watched Svinyi in the mirror, as he walked out of the restaurant.

**Torrance 1986**

Foma pulled up to the curb by a solitary house in a dirt lot, stopped the car and got out. Pelón pulled up behind him and got out too.

"No other place around, and that's Madrona we just passed," said Foma. "This must be the place. ¿_Listo_?"

"_S__í__, hombre_," said Pelón.

"_V__á__monos_," said Foma.

They walked up the path to the house. This was the only structure on what appeared to be an entirely unpaved, city block's worth of land. The were no other structures, and no plants, only dirt.

Foma knocked on the door.

It opened slowly. An old woman peered out at them. "Who are you?" she said.

"I'm Foma, and I'm here for Svyeta. Where...?"

"Hi, Daddy!" sang a voice from behind the door. It opened and a young girl ran out from behind the old woman to embrace Foma. She had blonde hair tied up in red ribbons, and eyes the color of the sky.

"Okay, Augusta, I'm going with Foma now," she said happily to the old woman.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" asked the old woman.

"Yeah, it's fine. Foma's my daddy!" said Svyeta, who hugged him again. "I'm going with him now. 'Bye!"

She grabbed Foma's hand. "Come on," she said, "let's go. This place is as dull as dirt."

The three of them walked back to the cars. "Hi, Pelón," said Svyeta, "how are you doing?"

"Great, Svyeta, it's good to see you again," said Pelón.

"You, too," said Svyeta.

"Thanks Pelón, that was easier than..." began Foma.

"Come on, let's _go!" _said Svyeta. "I'm going to go crazy if we sit around here one more _second!"_

"Right! We're going!" agreed Foma. He opened the door for Svyeta who jumped on the seat and strapped on her seat belt, then closed the door.

"So Pelón, thanks, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be," said Foma.

"No problem, _amigo_," said Pelón. "But I think we didn't have anything to worry about. Svyeta had everything under control the whole time!"

Pelón got in his car. "So I'll see you later. Say hi to Alicia for me."

"I will," said Foma. He got in the car, fastened his seat belt and followed Pelón back toward the freeway.

"So, how are you doing, really?" asked Foma. "You're not hurt or anything?"

"No," said Svyeta. "They're just really boring people. I've never been so bored in my entire life. I wanted to _scream, _I was so bored."

"Why were you bored?"

"_Because,"_ said Svyeta, "Augusta is a Jesus freak who forces Rick to kneel before God every second of every day he's in the same house with her. And she tried that with me too, and sent me to that Christian school every day. But I just did my Christian lessons and wrote out my Christian prayers, and didn't say anything till they stopped talking about Jesus. I figure if you want to talk about me, fine, or if you want to talk about Jesus, fine, but don't talk about the both of us in the same breath.

"_God,_ I was so bored I thought I was gonna faint!"

"So you were glad to see us, huh?" asked Foma.

Svyeta smiled. "Well, of course I was! _Pel__ó__n es t__í__o muy bueno, el sabe muchas cosas y me da dulces en mis cumplea__ñ__os_. Pelón is a really neat guy, he's knows lots of stuff and he gives me candy on my birthday. Plus I was so bored I was gonna fall asleep for a year if I spent another second in that house. Plus it's good to see you again!"

"Well, Svyetochka, it's good to see you again too. And your Spanish is excellent, by the way," said Foma.

"_Si, yo hablo espa__ñ__ol muy bien_," said Svyeta. "I speak Spanish very well. I speak it with Mom."

"How's your Russian?"

"I speak that with Granma, so I do alright."

"So it's pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty good. So, Augusta says you're my dad."

"Yes, I told her that."

"My real dad?" asked Svyeta, "or just the dad that happened to be living with my mom when I was born?"

Foma laughed. "There's no real difference. I'm the guy who helped take care of you from when you were a baby, and I'm the guy whose mom _your _mom sends you to to have fun at Christmas.

"So, if my mom is your Grandma, then I must be your dad."

"Ha, ha," said Svyeta. "There are worse dads, I suppose."

"Yeah," said Foma, "there are."

"Anyway," said Svyeta, "Mom says if you weren't such a proud guy, you'd realize that nothing was going on at all where you are, and you'd come back to us here."

"I'm surprised she'd say something like that to you."

"She says that and more. Mostly, how moving out there is the dumbest thing you've ever done, and you'll regret ever moving out that way when I grow up."

"But I had to move."

"She doesn't see it that way. And I have to say I tend to agree with her."

"Do you really?" asked Foma. "Why?"

"Because you can do whatever you want, whatever it is, here, just as much as you can there. Or moreso, because everything there is backward compared to LA."

"Backward?"

"Yeah, LA is light years beyond anywhere in this country, except maybe New York, for everything. And you're stuck somewhere in between both of those places."

"Stuck?"

"You say you can't be with us because you're doing your thing out there. But the fact is that out there, you can't really do your thing because you're not with us. And we're never moving out there, so as long you're out there, you can never be with us. And if you're not with us, you can't really do your thing. So yeah, you're stuck."

Foma laughed. "When you put it that way, yeah, I guess I'm stuck. Question is, how do I get unstuck?"

"Tell mom you're sorry and beg her to take you back. I'll stay out of the way, she'll make up her mind to take you back in and then you come back."

"Just like that, huh?"

"Yeah, just like that."

Foma had no answer for that. They kept driving back toward Mid-Town.

**Baikonur Cosmodrome 1991**

Katya and Tanya returned to their seats and strapped in. They both gave the thumbs up sign to Sasha.

"Control, we're at launch minus sixty, all capsule systems are go," Sasha said.

"Acknowledged, _Buran_, all external systems are go," said Control. Then: "Launch minus 30 seconds and counting."

After having checked and re-checked every single system the manned capsule would use for the duration of their space flight, the crew now waited for the few seconds till liftoff.

The massive Energia rocket to which _Buran _was strapped ignited, and their capsule rocked gently up and down. The Energia was still anchored to the gantry, but its moorings were soon detached from it by percussion caps. The _Buran,_ essentially the payload of the Energia rocket, with no liftoff engines of its own, was completely dependent on it to escape velocity from earth's gravity. Once reaching its maximum altitude, the Energia rocket, although designed for re-use, would in this instance detach from the _Buran _and be incinerated in Earth's atmosphere. The _Buran_ would use its own smaller rockets for course correction and re-entry.

The Energia slowly lifted _Buran _from the launchpad, and the two vessels climbed beyond the gantry into the atmosphere. The crew had accomplished liftoff, and were now hurtling, faster than any other human beings in the Terran system, directly toward eternity.

_To be continued._

9


End file.
